5/5
This one played out like a tough man’s James Bond. I really enjoyed the Cold War spy game and the plot was really well done. ( )

My first encounter with Mike Hammer has finally happened, and I must admit that I am very intrigued by the character. I know there are quite a few Mike Hammer novels out there, but I am embarrassed to say that Complex 90 was the first one I read in the series. Though it was a little difficult for me to really delve into the book at first, eventually I got into it and from there on out I couldn’t put it down. With a very charismatic, kind of cocky hero that definitely made me grin, Complex 90 is filled with espionage that is reminiscent of the Cold War from back in the day. Granted, some may immediately push the book aside due to it being “outdated”, but it has its charm and will definitely appeal to a wide audience – both old and young. Of course, I’m not saying go buy this book for your teenagers, I’m saying that Complex 90 has a modern feel to it, even though its set in a time that most of us couldn’t even begin to fathom.

Originally an unfinished novel that would have been a sequel to Mickey Spillane‘s The Girl Hunters in the 1960′s, Complex 90 was picked up by Titan Books and with the help of Max Allen Collins, finished. I got the hardback edition from Titan Books to review, and let me be honest, there’s nothing quite as luxurious as a hardback book, especially when it comes to crime, horror and thriller genres. Well written, beautifully formatted (the lettering was slightly big for my taste, but forgiveable nonetheless), and definitely worth the time it took to read, Complex 90 whetted my appetite for Mike Hammer and I’m going to give the others a shot as a result.

With so much action, you’d be a fool not to give Complex 90 a try. Mike Hammer may be a character that not many girls my age know, but by golly if he was real, he’d make panties drop by the hundreds!

Goodbye Edward Cullen and screw off Christian Grey! I’ll take Mike Hammer any day of the week and twice on Sunday!

In case you’re not sure whether I liked the book or not, let me just clarify for you that yes, I loved it.

(Review originally posted on www.tentaclebooks.com ) ( )

At the height of the Cold War, Mike Hammer went to Moscow as a bodyguard to a US Senator, was arrested by the Soviet police, and imprisoned. He escaped and made his way to a US base in Turkey, leaving a trail of death and destruction in his wake, including 45 bodies now on ice. The US military now wants to know what the hell went on there. When told he's created an international incident, Hammer says, "Screw it. That was my neck on the line." And That's just the first part of Chapter One.
The bulk of the book retraces Hammer's steps to how he got there & then what happens when the Soviet agents follow him to NYC.

Beginning with a ritzy cocktail party where he meets a woman who "looked better than Liz Taylor's imaginary sister" and whose voice was a purr like a pussycat sitting in your lap makes. Lisa Contreaux is the best looking dame there, but it wouldn't be a party in Mike Hammer's world without a wild shootout.

Historically, the trip to Moscow with the stopover in Riga is interesting. Most of this book was written at a time when the Berlin Wall was still standing and the Soviets were constantly up to mischief. But, the key to Soviet-era architecture is captured here: ugly massive buildings. And, the Soviet world is such a drab depressing place that Hammer gets a kick when he finally sees a pretty girl "in this land of dumpy dames." Maybe it's time to make detente.

This is, no bones about it, Classic Spillane. When Hammer is picked up by the Moscow police, he muses about, if he had his .45, "these refugees from a comic opera would be dead or bleeding to death on the sidewalk or the gutter, depending on where they fell, and the guy at the wheel would be just a blank face behind a spider-web of glass with a hole between his startled eyes." The violence isn't just hinted at. This is full-on hard-hitting action. In another scene, he takes a razor blade and slashes a guy's throat, "a thin red smile of its own forming, glistening into a grin."

The critics may not have liked the graphic action back in the day, but Spillane didn't create any namby-pampy mama's boy type characters. It's a tough world and it's a better place with a Mike Hammer in it, wreaking havoc on the commies and other bad guys.

This is one of the unfinished manuscripts that Spillane left for MAC (Max Allan Collins) to finish. You can't tell where Spillane stopped and MAC picked up. The transition is seamless. This is a historical Cold War novel taking place in 1964, but it doesn't feel dated at all. ( )

Book Review & Giveaway: Nobody has ever beat the iconic Mickey Spillane when it comes to novels like his hard-boiled Mike Hammer detective series so, when I learned he had given a partially complete manuscript to bestselling author Max Allan Collins, I knew those of us who love his noir detective series would be in for a treat. Needless to say I jumped on it when the publisher offered a copy and I’m paying it forward by hosting a giveaway for the copy I was sent. Complex 90 was originally supposed to be published in the 1960’s as the sequel to the 1961 novel, The Girl Hunters. For some reason, it was never completed until now. If you love 1960’s crime detectives with a hard edge and a soft heart then Mike Hammer is your guy, and Complex 90 will give you one hell of a fun summer read! Find out more at http://popcornreads.com/?p=6248. ( )

Latest release by Max Collins of the unfinished Mickey Spillane manuscripts. Collins does a good job of completing Spillane's novels and in updating the language to be more reflective of modern times, but sometimes I find that a bit unsettling. In any case, I love Mike Hammer tales, and this one is no exception. Mike is drawn into a mess with the Russians when he is kidnapped in Russia and escapes, killing 45 people in his wake and thereby creating a potential international incident. The Russian government wants him sent back to Russia to stand trial and the American agency his is clandestinely working for is putting pressure on him to do things their way. Mike Hammer never responds to those situations well. ( )